Fear filled the eyes of students on Central Campus on Monday, Nov. 4, after Tyler Comstock, of Boone, ripped through in a stolen pickup truck. Grass was slung from the tires as a brigade of police cars followed Comstock, who ran into a patch of trees on the north side of campus, and Officer Adam McPherson fired off six shot rounds after Comstock refused to comply with verbal commands. Comstock was later pronounced dead at Mary Greeley Medical Center in Ames.

Many students are relieved that measures were taken to stop Comstock from hitting anyone with the truck, while others remain skeptical of whether or not shots should have been taken with other students around. Were innocent passersby in danger from more than just reckless driving?

“The cops were smart to take the shot. It saved campus from further destruction,” said Sara Alesandrini, junior in interior design. “The law enforcement is trying to protect us.”

With McPherson taking shots at the truck, many more student lives could have been put in danger and more casualties could have come from Monday’s event. Police took care of the situation efficiently by getting passing students out of the area quickly and getting everything roped off. It did not take long for officials to have Comstock on the way to the hospital and have campus feeling safe again.

Other students, such as Paige Ruggle, junior in chemical engineering, suggested: “Maybe there was a better way to handle it. Chasing the truck onto campus means that many vehicles are speeding through the grass and putting students in danger rather than just one.”

On campus, student safety is a large priority and when a high-speed chase cuts through campus, that safety is compromised. If there had been a way to block Comstock from cutting through Central Campus or getting onto that area of campus at all, the chase might not have been so risky. Students had also claimed that it was dangerous to take shots at a vehicle while other students were in the surrounding area. Although it was claimed that not many students were in the area of the shooting, if something would have gone wrong, someone else could have been hurt.

Many of the students did not even seem to be concerned with the chase. Posts on social media suggested that students were more upset that the lunch on Central Campus was going to be half an hour late. Students also seemed to be upset over the banners that had been torn down on campus. Students had even made comments on Twitter about Parking Division not allowing parking on the grass.

Safety did not seem to be a strong concern for the campus students. What students did notice was that the campus alert system sent out phone calls and text messages nearly half an hour after the chase had occurred and police had responded to the scene. Operations in ISU Alert were probably not aware of the issue at the time of the chase, but could such a late response compromise safety?

Luckily, the incident did not occur during a passing period for students, or the outcome could have been much worse. For the few students that were on Central Campus during the time of the chase, everyone managed to get out of harm’s way and nobody was hurt. The same, however, cannot be said for one of the Homecoming banners on the Central Campus lawn. It was destroyed by the truck as it careened onto campus.

McPherson was put on paid administrative leave after Monday’s events. It is safe to say that students on campus are grateful for his bravery and that the issue was quickly under control so that nobody was hurt and no more property was damaged. We students are happy to live on a campus where the emergency response is so quick and professional. Word of mouth traveled quickly throughout campus and students knew what had happened before ISU Alert had time to send out notifications. Good job, Iowa State, at keeping each other out of harm’s way.

But the questions that will remain unanswered for many is, should shots have been fired to stop Comstock?